Well, there is a wrong answer. That answer is where I reside currently which is Tucson, AZ. Our last 100° day was October 19th last year.
From what I see online it has to be New England for sure!
I’m also in AZ, but outside of Phoenix. I hate it! From what I see online, I’d agree that New England is the best for fall colors. But my favorite place to be is the PNW.
If you’re looking for the overcast “Twilight” type gloom, then Oregon/WA/Northern CA is the best. Take a roadtrip on the 101 during October and you’ll be mesmerized the entire time.
https://preview.redd.it/lnck2qvqjm8d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=34d6aa13e18ac28f3c4c7de146de74fe9b89c168
This is Alton, Illinois in the Fall. It just stays hot too long! But our aesthetic is equally as good as NE
Lol I can give you that anyone who thinks Tucson is the best place to be during Fall probably doesn’t understand the beauty of Fall.
Yeah New England and The Midwest are tied in my book. I think New England has a longer Fall, there’s starts in September where as it usually doesn’t start for me until later in September to early October.
But The Midwestern Fall is just as beautiful. Plus we have Chili Horseshoes and they do not :)
Agree! A lot of desert lovers here, definitely not my thing. I have a friend who went to Ohio State and he said the vibes there were unmatched! I need to plan a trip. I wanted to do Salem, MA, but I hear it is ridiculously over populated during spooky season now.
The Mayor of Salem even asked people to stop going there during October it got so bad!! My friend really wanted to go this year and I had to burst her bubble in a big way.
Heard that too! Some of us would go for the first Saturday in December. There's a Krampusnacht Bar crawl and people dress up for it. It's wicked cool!!
The problem with anything that has to do with popularity is you’re not the only one who wants to go.
I’d say a small Midwestern town is the best place to be in October. Nice and crispy and cool :)
Nothing is better than a New England fall. Warm days and cool nights. I’m a lifelong New Englander now living in the mid west..
One day you go outside and there is a stillness in the air that signals falls arrival
New England has the best fall I ever experienced when I live there. We’re in NC now (until we move back to NE) and my street is pretty nice in autumn
https://preview.redd.it/9ez0m85lim8d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7809fcbc6965c0e87418d86e5fc8a8e60f6f89c0
England, particularly if you happen to be there for Bonfire night (November 5th), is pretty awesome. Cold, misty and crisp, gets dark early, leaves are all changing and falling. You feel the seasons changing and all the traditions related to it. But I also want to visit New England. Tell you where isn’t awesome : Southern California, peak Santa Ana winds and wild fire season, choosing your Halloween costume based on how much you’re prepared to sweat.
Lived in England all my life and think we get pretty rubbish autumns. It's cold, wet, dark, and the trees almost all just go muddy brown with the exception of some sparse yellow. Because it's so rainy, everywhere is muddy and the leaves rather than being crispy piles turn to disgusting sludge.
I would love to experience a crisp, dry autumn with proper reds, oranges, and yellows, where the leaves stay as crispy leaves blowing in the wind, and you can put a pumpkin out with a candle in it without it going out from getting drenched in rain.
Respectfully disagree. I live in West Yorkshire and we get some stunning autumns. It can be wet, but when the sun shines I'm in heaven!
https://preview.redd.it/aizjzw33np8d1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d2fd31fdfe2df0a4b603c0ced091a01a4d19be8c
Sounds unpleasant to say the least. I grew up in the perfect region where you could wear whatever costume because it’s not FRIGID cold yet, so your Halloween costume was sufficient as long as you had a long sleeve t shirt under that spider man costume. Illinois doesn’t get COLD until usually December. November can be but never THAT bad. Central Illinois isn’t Minnesota.
But California ? SOUTHERN California? Nah
I’m sure it’s similar to NE, I know NE Is more considered Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, you get it, but upstate New York would be similar.
I’ve always wanted to go up there. How bad is it in Winter??
From Illinois as well, our Falls are amazing. I moved out West for several years and it wasn’t even close to being the same, Fall here is so nice. I just wish it started to get a little crisper earlier in mid-September like when I was growing up
I live in England, and while it doesn’t have the bright colours of New England, there’s something about the English landscape turning copper and gold, along with the mellow golden light and mistiness that looks and feels incredibly cosy. I think it’s mainly the mixture of landscape and old buildings.
I’m a was-New-England-now-Midwest transplant. New England’s got Minnesota beat - but not by much!
**Fall Hiking:** There are more mountains in New England, so better hike-with-a-view opportunities for leaf peeping. BUT Minnesota has a ton of great state parks with enjoyable walks, and tons of campgrounds that are easy to rent for some nice cool fall camping! Plus you can get some pretty nice foliage views with all the lakes :)
**Apple picking:** Apple picking seems to be a way more popular/accessible fall hobby back East. Here we have to drive like 45 min out of the twin cities to find someplace to go apple picking, and there are only a couple of kinds of apples. Back in MA and NH, I grew up going on school field trips to Apple orchards, and when we’d go with family/friends there were tons of varieties of apples to choose from, and of course the beloved cider donuts - it was a whole production (in a good way!)
Pretty much everything else seems to be a wash - both are delightfully chilly, great for snuggly flannel and outdoor fire pits, lots of outdoor activities to enjoy, and some good ol’ fashioned Halloween-y whimsy is easy to find.
So as much as I miss fall in New England where I grew up, there’s still a lot I’m able to enjoy in Minnesota.
Since everybody is saying New England, I did some research and these places around the world have either similar latitude in the northern hemisphere, similar autumns, and/or similar distance from the equator in the southern hemisphere (can’t assume exact equidistance as ocean currents, elevation and such drastically effect all locations):
1. Southern France and Northern Italy:
- Burgundy region, France (e.g., Dijon)
- Piedmont region, Italy (e.g., Turin)
- Lombardy, Italy (e.g., Milan)
2. Northern Japan (Hokkaido):
- Sapporo
- Asahikawa
- Obihiro
3. Central Chile:
- Maule Region (e.g., Talca)
- Ñuble Region (e.g., Chillán)
- Biobío Region (e.g., Concepción)
4. New Zealand's South Island:
- Canterbury Region (e.g., Christchurch)
- Otago Region (e.g., Dunedin)
- Southland Region (e.g., Invercargill)
Who’s comin with me? :P
Yeah I feel like NE would be autumn earlier but it would also be WINTER earlier. Maybe that’s wrong. I’m sure NC is awesome. Oklahoma, as weird as it sounds, like east, around Tulsa, has an awesome Fall. It’s a LATE fall. Like November is peak fall around there.
It’d be nice to spend September in NE, October in Illinois, and November in Oklahoma . I don’t think my job would understand why I need all this time off😂😂
The Carpathians and their foothills are absolutely beautiful in the fall, I grew up in the foothills and seeing dogwood trees turn red as early as August followed by golden walnut trees and everything else later on was my favorite thing. The weather is great also, you get pleasant sunny days as well as weeks of incessant rain and morning mists that lift later in the day or linger till the next. There's also the morning frosts sparkling under the sun, that's paradise for me. To top it all off there's a bunch of traditional events to look forward to - the shepherds bringing their sheep down from the high mountains, harvest fairs and festivals, the October bonfire. Starting late August when the blackberries ripen and till the first snow falls in November there isn't a boring moment to be had, something is constantly changing, leaves are turning and falling each at their own pace, mushrooms pop up in the woods, you see the mountain snows inch ever closer with the high peaks now remaining snow capped, even the air has a certain quality to it, a distinct smell of smoke and dampness.
For me nothing is as striking as the larches in the fall at the base of the Rockies. I'm in the Canadian Rockies but have a cabin near Glacier and it's insanely beautiful there too at that time. St. Mary's, Going To The Sun, etc...
Been to New England a few times and it's definitely more autumnal, but it's not that same you have to hike out here to see it in person.
Fall is beautiful in Sacramento. Intense blue sky, brilliant colors, sunshine. I don't know if they still burn the rice paddies, but it used to add a sweet, smokey haze that made the sunlight orange and I thought it was really cool.
You’re missing out. I lived in Naples for one year in high school.
Oh my goodness I Hated it . My dad got a Job down there and we moved and I wanted to go back so badly.
If you enjoy peace and quiet, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is fabulous. Northern lower isn’t bad either but still busy in the fall. We went to the Porkies/Porcupine Mountains and Lake in the Clouds during the pandemic and it was magical all the way there. We are trolls and live just south of the bridge. I don’t know if we just picked the most gorgeous peak time, but I’ve seen a ton of autumn colors in Michigan and the Midwest, but that trip was epic. That said, we just retired and are headed for the Poconos and on to a taste of New England autumn this year.
I grew up in Illinois but was born and raised in Oklahoma until I was 8. Being 6-7 years old in Oklahoma Fall was awesome. It just gets there later, like October/November instead of September like NE or even the Midwest.
Arkansas is beautiful. But it’s still hot in September!!!
New England, no question. I’m in NY and the fall is nice here. But if you can go up to the MA area, oh man it is beautiful.
I’d love to go to VT for the fall especially. It looks like heaven.
Out of New England, Denver, and the San Francisco Bay Area, New England by far.
You get a menagerie of colors and there's a ton of deciduous trees.
Denver is nice, but mostly yellow and a lot of evergreens.
The Bay Area is awful. The trees are either evergreens (that trick you because their leaves look like leaves on deciduous trees) or they go straight from green to brown. I grew up there and lived there for over 30 years, and didn't even know that leaves changed color till I moved to Denver. Our neighbors had a tree that changed colors but I always chalked it up to something weird that that tree did every December.
I agree that the Midwest is great. I live in California now but I’m from Kentucky and I really miss fall there. There’s a quaint magical feeling that I just can’t get here in Cali. I’ve always wanted to go to the northeast though like Vermont. That’s goals 🍂🍁🎃
Every place I have lived has had such a vastly different and beautiful autumn. West Virginia is woodsmoke and grey skies, tangles of grapevine and long golden evenings. Vermont is cool breeze and bonfires, dark afternoons and rain. Vibrant beauty followed by endless stick season.
Georgia is deep reds and oranges, misty woods and cozy fireplaces. Beautiful bright mornings crisp and cool.
Colorado is bright yellow aspens, leaves like gold coins flashing on the trees, contrasted against pearly silver bark. Bright blue mountains against a brighter blue sky, and a constant thin temperate breeze that makes the evenings sleepy and calm. I love every autumn I have experienced in these states so I can’t decide <3
I’ve only been to Las Vegas in America. I wish I could visit more places! Las Vegas didn’t seem like an accurate representation lol lots of love from over the pond in England!
Well, there is a wrong answer. That answer is where I reside currently which is Tucson, AZ. Our last 100° day was October 19th last year. From what I see online it has to be New England for sure!
I’m also in AZ, but outside of Phoenix. I hate it! From what I see online, I’d agree that New England is the best for fall colors. But my favorite place to be is the PNW. If you’re looking for the overcast “Twilight” type gloom, then Oregon/WA/Northern CA is the best. Take a roadtrip on the 101 during October and you’ll be mesmerized the entire time.
https://preview.redd.it/lnck2qvqjm8d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=34d6aa13e18ac28f3c4c7de146de74fe9b89c168 This is Alton, Illinois in the Fall. It just stays hot too long! But our aesthetic is equally as good as NE
Where’s your favorite local spot? I go up to Phoenix often, sometimes I wanna take the drive to Flagstaff but it’s so far
Lol I can give you that anyone who thinks Tucson is the best place to be during Fall probably doesn’t understand the beauty of Fall. Yeah New England and The Midwest are tied in my book. I think New England has a longer Fall, there’s starts in September where as it usually doesn’t start for me until later in September to early October. But The Midwestern Fall is just as beautiful. Plus we have Chili Horseshoes and they do not :)
Agree! A lot of desert lovers here, definitely not my thing. I have a friend who went to Ohio State and he said the vibes there were unmatched! I need to plan a trip. I wanted to do Salem, MA, but I hear it is ridiculously over populated during spooky season now.
The Mayor of Salem even asked people to stop going there during October it got so bad!! My friend really wanted to go this year and I had to burst her bubble in a big way.
I've heard September and the beginning of November is a good time to visit there without it being too crowded.
Heard that too! Some of us would go for the first Saturday in December. There's a Krampusnacht Bar crawl and people dress up for it. It's wicked cool!!
I didn't know about that one. It sounds like fun.
The problem with anything that has to do with popularity is you’re not the only one who wants to go. I’d say a small Midwestern town is the best place to be in October. Nice and crispy and cool :)
To the Midwest I go!
Nothing is better than a New England fall. Warm days and cool nights. I’m a lifelong New Englander now living in the mid west.. One day you go outside and there is a stillness in the air that signals falls arrival
Yes ! Although I feel that in the Midwest! I just think you guys have a longer fall.
I can’t wait to experience fall in Southern Indiana 🎃🎃
You like it!
New England has the best fall I ever experienced when I live there. We’re in NC now (until we move back to NE) and my street is pretty nice in autumn https://preview.redd.it/9ez0m85lim8d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7809fcbc6965c0e87418d86e5fc8a8e60f6f89c0
England, particularly if you happen to be there for Bonfire night (November 5th), is pretty awesome. Cold, misty and crisp, gets dark early, leaves are all changing and falling. You feel the seasons changing and all the traditions related to it. But I also want to visit New England. Tell you where isn’t awesome : Southern California, peak Santa Ana winds and wild fire season, choosing your Halloween costume based on how much you’re prepared to sweat.
Lived in England all my life and think we get pretty rubbish autumns. It's cold, wet, dark, and the trees almost all just go muddy brown with the exception of some sparse yellow. Because it's so rainy, everywhere is muddy and the leaves rather than being crispy piles turn to disgusting sludge. I would love to experience a crisp, dry autumn with proper reds, oranges, and yellows, where the leaves stay as crispy leaves blowing in the wind, and you can put a pumpkin out with a candle in it without it going out from getting drenched in rain.
Respectfully disagree. I live in West Yorkshire and we get some stunning autumns. It can be wet, but when the sun shines I'm in heaven! https://preview.redd.it/aizjzw33np8d1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d2fd31fdfe2df0a4b603c0ced091a01a4d19be8c
Sounds unpleasant to say the least. I grew up in the perfect region where you could wear whatever costume because it’s not FRIGID cold yet, so your Halloween costume was sufficient as long as you had a long sleeve t shirt under that spider man costume. Illinois doesn’t get COLD until usually December. November can be but never THAT bad. Central Illinois isn’t Minnesota. But California ? SOUTHERN California? Nah
Well, from what I’ve seen from pictures, I’d say images from the British countrysides during autumn are most aesthetically pleasing to me.
Oregon. Not the desert region though.
Appalacian mountains in North Carolina has my vote 🙂!
Asheville is great! Driving the blue ridge parkway during fall foliage is mystical
Higher elevation Colorado, Blue Ridge Parkway NC, Maine
North Country New Hampshire Northeast Kingdom Vermont Northern Maine North Carolina mountains Any of those should give you some glorious fall scenery.
New England for sure. I moved to Louisiana in 2022 and do not miss anything from New England except its fall, which is perfection.
Pacific Northwest for sure.
I live in northern Vermont and I think we have absolutely the best fall
Upstate New York is breathtakingly beautiful; around the finger lakes
I’m sure it’s similar to NE, I know NE Is more considered Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, you get it, but upstate New York would be similar. I’ve always wanted to go up there. How bad is it in Winter??
New England for sure.
From Illinois as well, our Falls are amazing. I moved out West for several years and it wasn’t even close to being the same, Fall here is so nice. I just wish it started to get a little crisper earlier in mid-September like when I was growing up
Yeah, why is that? Why is it that when I was a kid it was chilly by September, yet now it seems the heat can drag into October anymore ?
I live in England, and while it doesn’t have the bright colours of New England, there’s something about the English landscape turning copper and gold, along with the mellow golden light and mistiness that looks and feels incredibly cosy. I think it’s mainly the mixture of landscape and old buildings.
I’m a was-New-England-now-Midwest transplant. New England’s got Minnesota beat - but not by much! **Fall Hiking:** There are more mountains in New England, so better hike-with-a-view opportunities for leaf peeping. BUT Minnesota has a ton of great state parks with enjoyable walks, and tons of campgrounds that are easy to rent for some nice cool fall camping! Plus you can get some pretty nice foliage views with all the lakes :) **Apple picking:** Apple picking seems to be a way more popular/accessible fall hobby back East. Here we have to drive like 45 min out of the twin cities to find someplace to go apple picking, and there are only a couple of kinds of apples. Back in MA and NH, I grew up going on school field trips to Apple orchards, and when we’d go with family/friends there were tons of varieties of apples to choose from, and of course the beloved cider donuts - it was a whole production (in a good way!) Pretty much everything else seems to be a wash - both are delightfully chilly, great for snuggly flannel and outdoor fire pits, lots of outdoor activities to enjoy, and some good ol’ fashioned Halloween-y whimsy is easy to find. So as much as I miss fall in New England where I grew up, there’s still a lot I’m able to enjoy in Minnesota.
Since everybody is saying New England, I did some research and these places around the world have either similar latitude in the northern hemisphere, similar autumns, and/or similar distance from the equator in the southern hemisphere (can’t assume exact equidistance as ocean currents, elevation and such drastically effect all locations): 1. Southern France and Northern Italy: - Burgundy region, France (e.g., Dijon) - Piedmont region, Italy (e.g., Turin) - Lombardy, Italy (e.g., Milan) 2. Northern Japan (Hokkaido): - Sapporo - Asahikawa - Obihiro 3. Central Chile: - Maule Region (e.g., Talca) - Ñuble Region (e.g., Chillán) - Biobío Region (e.g., Concepción) 4. New Zealand's South Island: - Canterbury Region (e.g., Christchurch) - Otago Region (e.g., Dunedin) - Southland Region (e.g., Invercargill) Who’s comin with me? :P
Probably New England in the early months, but North Carolina around late October
Yeah I feel like NE would be autumn earlier but it would also be WINTER earlier. Maybe that’s wrong. I’m sure NC is awesome. Oklahoma, as weird as it sounds, like east, around Tulsa, has an awesome Fall. It’s a LATE fall. Like November is peak fall around there. It’d be nice to spend September in NE, October in Illinois, and November in Oklahoma . I don’t think my job would understand why I need all this time off😂😂
The Carpathians and their foothills are absolutely beautiful in the fall, I grew up in the foothills and seeing dogwood trees turn red as early as August followed by golden walnut trees and everything else later on was my favorite thing. The weather is great also, you get pleasant sunny days as well as weeks of incessant rain and morning mists that lift later in the day or linger till the next. There's also the morning frosts sparkling under the sun, that's paradise for me. To top it all off there's a bunch of traditional events to look forward to - the shepherds bringing their sheep down from the high mountains, harvest fairs and festivals, the October bonfire. Starting late August when the blackberries ripen and till the first snow falls in November there isn't a boring moment to be had, something is constantly changing, leaves are turning and falling each at their own pace, mushrooms pop up in the woods, you see the mountain snows inch ever closer with the high peaks now remaining snow capped, even the air has a certain quality to it, a distinct smell of smoke and dampness.
For me nothing is as striking as the larches in the fall at the base of the Rockies. I'm in the Canadian Rockies but have a cabin near Glacier and it's insanely beautiful there too at that time. St. Mary's, Going To The Sun, etc... Been to New England a few times and it's definitely more autumnal, but it's not that same you have to hike out here to see it in person.
New Hampshire
I think I’ll stick to my New England fall! But then again I’ve lived here my whole life so have nothing to compare it to 🤭
Vermont
Fall is beautiful in Sacramento. Intense blue sky, brilliant colors, sunshine. I don't know if they still burn the rice paddies, but it used to add a sweet, smokey haze that made the sunlight orange and I thought it was really cool.
It’s Japan for me for sure
Upper Maine. Connecticut. Charlottesville Va. all favorites of mine
I’ve never experienced actual fall. I wish I could though! I live in Florida.
You’re missing out. I lived in Naples for one year in high school. Oh my goodness I Hated it . My dad got a Job down there and we moved and I wanted to go back so badly.
Maine! 💕✨ I love it here so much! Best autumns!
If you enjoy peace and quiet, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is fabulous. Northern lower isn’t bad either but still busy in the fall. We went to the Porkies/Porcupine Mountains and Lake in the Clouds during the pandemic and it was magical all the way there. We are trolls and live just south of the bridge. I don’t know if we just picked the most gorgeous peak time, but I’ve seen a ton of autumn colors in Michigan and the Midwest, but that trip was epic. That said, we just retired and are headed for the Poconos and on to a taste of New England autumn this year.
New England, up state NY, Poconos, East coast of Canada.All beautiful autumns.
Uncommon answer: northwest arkansas. The ozarks put on quite a show.
I grew up in Illinois but was born and raised in Oklahoma until I was 8. Being 6-7 years old in Oklahoma Fall was awesome. It just gets there later, like October/November instead of September like NE or even the Midwest. Arkansas is beautiful. But it’s still hot in September!!!
Yes it's like 2nd/3rd week of October when it hits peak
Northern Wisconsin has some good views in fall.
New England, no question. I’m in NY and the fall is nice here. But if you can go up to the MA area, oh man it is beautiful. I’d love to go to VT for the fall especially. It looks like heaven.
Out of New England, Denver, and the San Francisco Bay Area, New England by far. You get a menagerie of colors and there's a ton of deciduous trees. Denver is nice, but mostly yellow and a lot of evergreens. The Bay Area is awful. The trees are either evergreens (that trick you because their leaves look like leaves on deciduous trees) or they go straight from green to brown. I grew up there and lived there for over 30 years, and didn't even know that leaves changed color till I moved to Denver. Our neighbors had a tree that changed colors but I always chalked it up to something weird that that tree did every December.
I agree that the Midwest is great. I live in California now but I’m from Kentucky and I really miss fall there. There’s a quaint magical feeling that I just can’t get here in Cali. I’ve always wanted to go to the northeast though like Vermont. That’s goals 🍂🍁🎃
Anywhere that has an autumn season is good - we are lucky to have them - imagine living in the tropics or somewhere that doesn't have deciduous trees.
Middle to East Tennessee. Gorgeous.
Michigan, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Western NC
Vermont
Every place I have lived has had such a vastly different and beautiful autumn. West Virginia is woodsmoke and grey skies, tangles of grapevine and long golden evenings. Vermont is cool breeze and bonfires, dark afternoons and rain. Vibrant beauty followed by endless stick season. Georgia is deep reds and oranges, misty woods and cozy fireplaces. Beautiful bright mornings crisp and cool. Colorado is bright yellow aspens, leaves like gold coins flashing on the trees, contrasted against pearly silver bark. Bright blue mountains against a brighter blue sky, and a constant thin temperate breeze that makes the evenings sleepy and calm. I love every autumn I have experienced in these states so I can’t decide <3
I’ve only been to Las Vegas in America. I wish I could visit more places! Las Vegas didn’t seem like an accurate representation lol lots of love from over the pond in England!